Emergency propeller



I, EMERGENCY PROPELLER Filed Jan. 10 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J4 T 6 Q0INVENTOR June 3 1924..

A. MILLER EMERGENCY PROPELLER Filed. Jan. 16. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESS:

Patented June 3,1924.

ALBERT MILLER, or xmnnrm, Iowa.

EMERGENCY PROPELLER.

Application filed January 10, 1923. Serial No. 611,739.

6. The clutch sleeve has fixed thereto or i I To all whom it may concerni 4 Be it known that I, ALBERT MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Knierim, in the county of Calhoun and State of l Iowa, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Emergency Propellers, of

which the following is a specification.

Frequent accidents have resulted in both air and water crafts,especially the former,

l by the breakage of the propeller therefor,

and it is the object of this invention to provide such craft with anauxiliary or emergency propeller that comprises two sections pivotallysupported on the propeller shaft inward of the main propeller, said 2also sections being normally arranged in a line with the shaft andtherefore in closed position, means being provided for solely hold-' ingthe propeller blades, and means being provided for throwing andretaining the blades in the wind or water.

To the attainment of the foregoing and other objects which will presentthemselves as the natureof the invention is better understood, referenceis to be had to the drawings as tional view. approximately on the line33 which accompany and which form part of this application. Y

Inthe drawings Figure 1 is a view of a suflicient portion 30 of anaeroplane, to illustrate the application of the improvement thereon.

Figure 2 is a top plan view with parts I broken away, and parts insection.

' Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarged secof Figure 1, the body of theaeroplane not being shown.

Figure 4 is a ,sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a side elevation illustrating a modification.

Figure 6 is a top plan view thereof. While in the o lowingspecification, I

I shall refer to'my improvement in connec- V tion with an aircraft, itis to be understood Wlll be straightened'and the reduced ends of thatthe same is to be considered equally applicable to a watercraft.- In thedrawings, the numeral 1 designates a portion of anaircraft, 2 thepropeller shaft may have integrally formed therewith laterally extendingchanneled members 7, and in each of these there is pivoted, as at 8 theinner and reduced ends 9 of the blades 10 of my auxiliary propeller. Theblades 10 arial'shaped .similar to those of the main prope er Arrangedfor slidable movement on the shaft 2, inward of the clutch sleeve 5there is another and'longer sleeve 11. This sleeve has its bore providedwith a groove 12 in which i's'received a spline 13 projecting from butfixed'to the shaft 2. On its'outer face the sleeve 11 is provided withclutch sur-. faces let designed, when moved in the direction to coengagewith the clutch surface 6 of the sleeve 5, and consequently cause thesaid sleeve 5 to rotate with the shaft 2. I The blades 10 are normallyswung toward each other and are held against the side of the craft 1between parallel fingers 1' formed on the ends of brackets or plates 2'.I

The sleeve 11, inward of its clutch end has an annular groove for thereception of a split ring 15. The ring has its ends provided withoutturned lugs lfi'suitably connected, and to these lugs and toy theinner faces of the blades 10 there are pivotally connected links 17.

Surrounding the shaft 2, and received in sockets at the clutch ends ofthe res ctive sleeves 5 and 11 there is a helical spring 18. This springmoves the clutch sleeve 11 inwardly which, through the medium of itslink connections with the blades 10 likewise move the blades to foldedposition and into engagement between the arms 1' of the brackets 2 sothat the shaft 2 may be re? volved to impart a like motion to'the mainpropeller 3. When, however, the sleeve 11 I is moved longitudinally onthe shaft to bring its clutch end into engagement with the clutch on thesleeve 5, the folded'links 17 provided with a second annular groove inwhich is received a ring member 19 provided with. a lug 20 and to thislug there IS attaclfited a" rod 21 leading directly into the org. 1. 1

The rod 21 is connected to the lower end of a lever 22, which is pivotedto a segmental rack 23 and which carries a handle Operated springinfluenced dog 24. The dog, of course, engages teeth on the rack 23. Therack'is provided with two notches and when the dog is arranged in one ofthe notches the auxiliary blades 10 are bolted against the sides of thecraft and when the lever is swung to bring the dog into the second netchthe blades are moved by the sleeve 11 and links 17 into active position,the clutch surface 14 on the said sleeve engaging the clutch surface 6on the member 5 when the blades are so arranged.

Preferably the links pass throii'ghslots in the front or bow of thecraft which more ellectively hold the blades ininoperative position.

In Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings a.

pivoted lever 26 may have a link connection 27 with a collar 28, similarto the collar 19 on the sleeve 29 which is similar to the sleeve 11. Thelever 26 carries a hand actuated spring influenced dog arranged toengage one of two notches in a rack segment 30.

In other respects, the construction disclosed in Figures 5 and 6somewhat diders from that previously described, as for instance theouter collar 31, instead of being provided with lugs has arm extensions32, and to these extensions there are pivoted links 33 that are alsopivotally connected to the lever 26 above the rack 30, it being notedthat the link 27 is pivoted adjacent to the bottom of the said lever.The arms 32 have rightangular outwardly directed extensions 34:- whoseends are enlarged and bifurcated, as at 35 to normally receive thereinthe blades of a single auxiliary propeller 36. The auxiliary propeller36 has its hub freely received on the shaft 37, similar to the shaft 2.The hub has an inner clutch surface 38, and the sleeve 29 has a similarclutch surface 39. The sleeve 29 is, of course, mounted ina keyway onthe shaft 37, so that by moving the lever out of engagement with thesegment 30 as disclosed in Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings, and swingingthe said lever to bring its dog into engagement with the second or innernotch of the said segment 30 the links 33 will cause the collar 31 toslide on the sleeve 27 to bring the forked ends 35 of the arms 34 out ofengagement.

with the blades of the auxiliary propeller 36. Such movement also causesthe link 27 to move the sleeve 29 outwardly so that its clutch surface39 is brought into engagement 6:0 with the clutch surface 38 on theauxiliary propeller 36. This movement occurs, of course, when the mainpropeller 410 is damaged,

It is thought that the foregoingdescript1on,.when taken in connectionwith the drawings will ea forth the construe i eearaa and a propellerthereon, "of an auxiliary propeller designed for use when the mainpropeller is broken or damaged'fcomprising opposed wing blades foldedagainst the sides of the shaft but out of contact and non-rotatabletherewith, and susceptible, to swinging movement on the shaft to bringthe opposed-blades into longitudinal alignment and lock the sameto theshaft to be rotated thereby. 1

2. The combination of a propeller shaft having a propeller, of anauxiliary propeller designed for use when the main propeller is brokenor damaged, comprising a pair of opposed pivotally supported Wingblades, means for swinging the same against the sides of the shaft butout of contact and not rotatable therewith, means for swinging theblades laterally with respect to the shaft to bring'said blades in'longitudinal alignment,

and means locking the blades to the shaft 95 when in such position.

3. The combination of a propeller shaft and a propeller thereon, of anauxiliary propeller designed for use upon the breakage or ,damage of themain propeller, comprising 11% two opposed pivotally supported. wingblades arranged to the opposite sides of the shaft directly inward ofthe propeller; 7

means, comprising pivoted links designed when folded to arrangethe'bl'ades in a line 1195 with the sides of the shaft but out of contact and non-rotatable therewith, means for moving the pivotallyconnected links to longitudinal alignment to swing the blades outwardwith respect to the shaft, means receivno ing and locking the blades insuch position, and means locking the blades to the shaft when the saidblades are in said mentioned osition.

4. e combination of a propeller shaft 11w having a propeller thereon, ofan auxiliary propeller designed for use upon thebreakage or damage ofthe main propeller, comprising a sleeve freely arranged on the shaft andheld against longitudinal movement thereon, ml

opposed blades pivotally supported by the sleeve, means comprisingpivotally connected links between the blades and sleeve designed whenfolded ,to arrange the blades longitudinally of the shaft, means for soinfluencing ESE) 5. The combination of a propeller shaft having apropeller thereon, of an auxiliary propeller designed for use uponbreakage or damage of the main propeller, comprising a clutch sleevefreely mounted on the shaft inward of the propeller, means holding saidclutch sleeve from longitudinal movement on the shaft, channeled membersextending laterally from the clutch sleeve, propeller blades havingreduced ends received in andpivotally secured to the channeled members,links pivotally connected to each other and to the sleeve and blades,-asecond clutch sleeve revoluble on the shaft and susceptible tolongitudinal movement thereon, means between the last mentioned sleeveand one of each series of links for influencing the links to bring theblades along the sides of the shaft when the last mentioned sleeve is innormal position, means for moving the last mentioned sleeve to clutchingengagement with the first mentioned sleeve wherebyto spread the links toswing the blades outwardly from the shaft to house the inner endsthereof in the channeled members and likewise to cause the firstmentioned sleeve to revolve with the shaft.

6. The combination of a propeller shaft.

having a propeller thereon, of an auxiliary propeller designed for useupon breakage or damage of the main propeller, comprising a clutchsleeve freely mounted on the shaft inward of the propeller, meansholding said clutch sleeve from longitudinal movement on the shaft,channeled members extending laterally from the clutch sleeve, propellerblades-having reduced ends received in and pi 'otally secured to thechanneled members,

,links pivotally connected to each other and to the sleeve and blades, asecond clutch sleeve revoluble on the shaft and susceptible tolongitudinal movement thereon,

channeled members and likewise to cause the first mentioned sleeve torevolve with the shaft, and means for locking the slidable sleeveoperating means in osition to hold the said slidable sleeve in either ofits mentioned positions.

In testimony whereof I afiix my si ature.

ALBERT \II. ER.

